[princesspiggy]

our small flock of borerays are our 1st "registered" sheep. i was starting to birth notify the lambs today and it seems to register a male lamb is 3 times the price of registering a ewe lamb. so do u guys just register ur ram lambs and leave ur wethers just birth-notified. our wethers were going to be primarily for meat but the odd pair sold as pets so it seems a shame that they are not registered if eligible. i didnt have this problem with registering wether goat kids.
thanx

[Dougal]

Usually with the pedigree sheep there is no need to register castrated males due to the fact that they can't breed. The process of registration is usually to allow buyers of future sheep generations to track bloodlines and traits to improve the breed over time. I'd save your pennies and just register the breeding stock. If all the lambs are birth notified then it should be possible to fully register them at any time in their lives so if they were becoming pets at some point they could be registered then. If not becoming pets and just going to the table then the bit paper won't change the flavour

[Fleecewife]

A Dougal says, plus - Borerays are very rare so think carefully which ones you want to keep entire (probably too late this year   ).  For the Combined Flock Book of the RBST, which is where you will be birth notifying and registering your stock, you only need to birth notify them at the moment.  We usually register our females at the same time then wait until later, once we can see what the tup lambs are like, before we register them.  I think that for the CFB there may be a time limit on registrations - not sure how long, maybe 3 years.  You can't register wethers.

You are right that it is very expensive to register tups in the CFB - the theory is so that you only register those which are really worthy.  However, for these rare breeds we should ideally be breeding one tup to one ewe   to maintain maximum genetic diversity.  No-one does this although with our Hebrideans we breed in small groups of 2 to 5 per tup, which is better than 40 ewes per tup.

[princesspiggy]

to sell meat as rare breed meat i suppose being birth notified wud be enough for butchers? our flock will be 5 ewes to the tupp, and all off-spring will be sold for breeding or finished.
a small flock is a pleasure, more than 20 and its gets hardwork! hats off to u all that have 1000's   

 

[jaykay]

I loved the Borerays I saw at Woolfest. Talk to me about keeping them? I am used to Rough Fells which are big and placid for hill sheep, friendly and love their food  

[princesspiggy]

i didnt have this problem with registering wether goat kids.

i take that back, just got email back that they wont register the goat wether as hes bin castrated. am i the only one that likes registered stock, its just interesting to know where they came from and what bloodlines they are, whether they are for breeding or not.just seems strange, maybe im looking at it from a horsey perspective? surely if its been castrated, it can be recorded on its papers like ponies are?

[Anke]

i didnt have this problem with registering wether goat kids.

i take that back, just got email back that they wont register the goat wether as hes bin castrated. am i the only one that likes registered stock, its just interesting to know where they came from and what bloodlines they are, whether they are for breeding or not.just seems strange, maybe im looking at it from a horsey perspective? surely if its been castrated, it can be recorded on its papers like ponies are?

I was wondering that, as far as I know wether goat kids are not eligible for registration. It is all from the point of view of breeding and bloodlines, and the wethers have not much to contribute there anymore... But I know some people selling their wether boys as pets provide the buyer with a pedigree certificate (home made, but entirely valid if the parent stock is registered).

[princesspiggy]

But I know some people selling their wether boys as pets provide the buyer with a pedigree certificate (home made, but entirely valid if the parent stock is registered).

thats a nice idea, better than nothing at all. i just wonder if i had registered him on day of birth then castrated him at 7 days, he would at leat had a copy of his papers even if the originals were returned.
nevermind.